The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which measures home prices in 20 cities, fell 3.8 percent in December from November and 4 percent from a year ago.

Prices in the Charlotte metropolitan area fell 2 percent from November and were down 2.3 percent from December 2010, according to the index, which tracks repeat sales.

Nineteen of 20 cities saw prices decline on a monthly basis, with Phoenix yet again being the only city to post an increase. On an annual basis, Detroit was the only city on the index to post a gain. Prices there nudged up .5 percent. Atlanta continues to suffer among the most, posting a nearly 13 percent drop from December 2010, followed by Las Vegas with a 8.8 percent annual decline.

“In terms of pricing, the housing market ended 2011 on a very disappointing note, said David Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices.”While we thought we saw some signs of stabilization in the middle of 2011, it appears that neither the economy nor consumer confidence was strong enough to move the market in a positive direction as the year ended.”

The housing market had shown promising signs, according to a report by The National Association of Realtors. The group recently said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in January, increased 2 percent to 97.0 -- the highest reading since April 2010.

But Tuesday's gloomy report suggests the market may falter again this year.

Since housing prices began falling rapidly in 2006, the market has had two years of a market "that is bottoming out but not yet stabilized," Blitzer said. "Up until today's report we had believed the crisis lows for the composites were behind us."

But, he said, "The pick-up in the economy has simply not been enough to keep home prices stabilized. If anything it looks like we might have reentered a period of decline as we begin 2012."

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comments:

Anonymous
said...

Repeat sales is becoming questionable. If a house sells on average every 5-10 years - then maybe they just keep picking up houses that haven't sold since prior to 2007/2008? I doubt there are many homes that sell every 2 years or so - and if there are - they probably have a problem of some sort.

Kerry - is there any way to get the Case Shiller Raw data? How many sales did they have?

I'd like to at least see how many sales they have recorded for 2011 for the Charlotte Metropolitan Area. Is it 100 or 1,000 or 20,000? How many sales are there in between months? Aren't homes that have repeatedly sold over the last 5 years more likely to be distressed, thus skewing the data if it is not a large enough pool?

The government program that granted $5,000 in tax incentives for first-time home buyers was the only thing that caused homes to move within the past 2 years.

And like every government program, it's short-lived, caters to a small minority and winds up causing the taxpayer more than it's worth. Furthermore, it artificially skews the private sector and ultimately delays any long-term housing recovery.

We should have a long time ago allowed a lot of the homes and the banks that owned the paper, to default. Instead, 4 years later we're still dealing with this mess and will continue if government tries to 'intervene' and assist.

Link to Case Schiller Raw Data-no login needed. Since peek prices last decade, Charlotte has maintained the #3 overall market rate (-17%) out of the Full 20 markets evaluated. Only Dallas, TX, and Denver, CO beat us. So at least we were not hit too badly. (avg is down 34%)http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices/sp-case-shiller-home-price-indices/en/us/?indexId=spusa-cashpidff--p-us----

Just found a good web site that gives us a good idea of the current value of the homes in our area. Check out zillow.com and look up your address. It's will surprise you that your home is valued about 20-40% below you last tax revaluation. Goes to show you just how greedy the city of Charlotte and the County of Mecklenburg can be.

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Ely Portillo

Ely Portillo

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Ely Portillo covers economic development for the Observer, writing about who's building what in a city that seems to be sprouting new apartment and office towers on every corner. He also writes about Charlotte's airport, a major hub that's also undergoing a huge growth spurt. A transplant from Maryland, he's been reporting on his adopted hometown for more than five years. If you have a tip or story idea to share, you can contact him by email or give him a call at 704-358-5041. For the latest news, follow him on Twitter @ESPortillo.